Life, it begins with the search for meaning of life and the search ends up taken over by survival. Survival becomes the prime factor of life; it dictates the emotions like courage, fear, joy, sadness and well being of both the animals and the humans. But the battle as to how to lead our lives, whether to live for survival or to search for the meaning of life remains eternal.

The world is a collection of amazing amount of data but with no meaning to them. The human mind, aroused by an insistence for meaning, seeks and finds nothing but contradiction and nonsense. The more one puts himself to wisdom the more sorrows he attains too. Sorrows are the unasked compliments that come along with true wisdom.

Searching for meaning in this absurd world gives us purpose and with a purpose is how humans could live their life. If one accepts the fact that there is no meaning in life then next to follow is the thought of giving up on life. We are put into the world with limited validity and without enlightenment about the reason for our validity. But the reason is sown within us. That is why not everybody has the same dream or passion. For some the reason or meaning of life is, the love they have on someone, travelling for some, working for few, gaming for some, social work for some. But, according to me the greatest challenge in life is discovering who we are; the way we carry ourselves towards our dream after the realization is what can be the most natural purpose of life.

A little peep into the book, “What Life Is All About?”

[Note: Characters presence as in the novel are removed in order to make it appear as a short essay]

A celebrity, despite being quite young, had earned a lot of money and fame. But at a particular point of time in his life he began to feel that his success and vanity are enslaving him. He had everything—a highly sophisticated life—but he was still unhappy. When he was a teenager, he thought that earning huge amounts of money would earn him his freedom and happiness. But now, that had proved to be wrong. He lost his freedom as well as his happiness. The only consolation was that he did what he loved: playing football. That kept him going in life.

The things that he had to do to keep up his stardom on purpose to show off to people that he was a good and generous man made him feel like a complete stranger to himself. He was highly respected where ever he went; he knew that only his fame and money were the reasons behind the way everybody treated him. He knew life was not that easy—every ear he spoke to, every eye he saw had either sought some favour or materialistic expectations from him; the conditional love. He felt his life was becoming so artificial and was getting confined by vanity.

He desperately wanted to resolve this situation and figure out what the meaning and purpose of his existence is and what life is all about. So he decided to take a break, go on a vacation to Texas, throw off his stardom there for a day and just go out for a walk disguising himself. He wished to unravel out of his misery for a while, and hoped to gain a better perspective on his present and future. Garbed in an apt disguise, Dave asked his driver to drop him by the shore; there he befriends an old man who retired as a teacher and a person who gave up his passion to become a movie director, in order to lead a ‘safe life’ (with a decent job, sufficient salary, a wife and a child) in the society.

How they initiated a conversation and how the wisdom and experience of the retired old man and this young celebrity’s quest for wisdom, spin a beautiful narrative and form the crux of this novel.

In the middle of the war, in my home I see a woman being raped. No, no I do not know whether it’s my wife, it’s because of the concussion that I suffered from the bomb that was drop on our home when me, my wife, and our son together as a family were dinning. I don’t know what has happened to my son. I was weak even to think of anything, I fainted. When conscious woke me up all were gone including the woman, they must have taken her, but for what purpose ? I don’t want to think about it anymore. I slowly stood up and walked out to the streets only to see fire and completely collapsed buildings all around and again saw a woman, no, not someone I know, her organs being mutilated. I saw a man, no I don’t know him, don’t know him, but saw him cry out from his lungs due to pain, his fingers were chopped like onion. By whom ? a human. Yes a human, the same breed.

I walked further to see many barbaric things that I never believed a human being could do to a fellow human being. Humans were roused to consciousness and tortured, but we suffered from thirst and destitution more than from brutality.

I somehow made out of the war. When in hospital I was approached by few officials, I was asked whether I am interested to speak in an organised event where hundreds of men would be gathered. I agreed. I did speak about all the merciless things I saw and experienced in the war. There was a great round of applauds. After my speech I was told that good things will happen soon. I was not sure of what good things they meant, to give me back my family and house ? but more than that I want them to end the war instantly somehow.

It was as if some game played between two countries and with the referee as UN, even then the referee doesn’t seem to act fairly. Even in a football game the referee stops the game when two sportsmen start to confront each other. Here the referee waits till the game gets over and goes through the videos of how people have been butchered, raped, mutilated, humiliated, starved to death yet the referee doesn’t seem to have the power to punish the people responsible for it.

It all began with the government’s decisions, how could a government just decide to slaughter 1000’s of people ? Yes they are given the power to decide for us but that does mean the people have given them power to slaughter 1000’s of people that too with people’s money ? Spending people’s money to slaughter people and they decide it on their own and the people aren’t allowed to say a word or have a call about it ? Can’t they go for a referendum at least for the sake of something we call democracy before any country wages war on its opponent. At least this could be made mandatory by the UN.

All the brutality and mass slaughters doesn’t seem to matter when I was able to see people living lives with partying and entertainment, they aren’t seemed to be bothered about the war that’s being happening on the same planet they live in. what’s more worse is that the war is been carried out with their money and in the name of protecting them. The citizens of the country which has indulged in the war was not cared to give any pressure to its government. Losing their brothers, sisters, fathers as militants they were ok with letting the government indulge in war. Then being a human I could not help myself but think how will they react if they are being bombed ?

I even wonder what they teach at the schools ? About all the wars that the earth has seen, their motives seems to just intimidate us to be in control under them. How to be diplomatic to avoid war and coexist as a society with difference, is that not an important topic to teach them, what’s more important to teach than saving lives and coexist. Somewhere between work and hunger we have lost ourselves from being humans.

Even after all this people say life is beautiful on planet earth, how do I believe it ? How do I make them understand what I have seen or have gone through ? just nobody seems to be bothered.

Just trying to figure things out on this sphere people call earth. The famous, the infamous and why we care way too much about them.

Aren’t they powerless like us, human like us, why do we look at them as superior beings ?

Aren’t they created by us ? Aren’t they powerless without us ?

Are celebrities important than an everyday person walking down the street ?

Why are we crazy to run into A-listers, individuals we can instagram and then watch the likes roll in.

Why do we have this insatiable curiosity about their private lives ?

If not religion then this is what the society is clinging to for 24/7.

Why have we become such shameless star chasers ?

There was a time when pictures splashed in all magazines and social Media when some sleazy shutterbug gets unattractive or explicit shots of a celebrity. But now the celebrities they themselves do it for attention. Major problems in society are not as vibrant as the latest kardashian nude selfies in our world.Celebrity worship has become such a psychological problem in society. It is no surprise that in ‘The university of Leicester’ a study has been done about the ‘celebrity worship’ and the psychologists even have a name for it ‘celebrity worship syndrome.’

In our celebrity crazed culture it’s not surprising that people go crazy for memorabilia. They are enthusiastic to pay hugely in auctions to just own an item that their favourite celebrity used, such as their napkin or even a spoon and we have seen cases were Muhammad ali’s boxing gloves won an auction bid for $1.1million, Mark McGwire 70th home run ball for $3million.

Companies know this about us and are cashing in on it. Think of all celebrity endorsed products there are right from Perfumes to condoms. There is a huge thriving industry selling us the dirt on celebrities ‘people magazine’ has an audience of 46million readers. More frightening is that a lot of people spending their time and money reading about people they don’t even know or seen in their lifetime.

Why do we give this god like stature to an ordinary mortals like us ? We put them so high on a pedestal that if they fall, they fall hard and in the limelight. And this, of course, is more fodder for the gossip junkies. It almost seems like we take pleasure in their misfortune or mistake. Even though we speak about moral ethics we cannot help but gawk at every detail of their fall. We react as if they have let us down personally, as if they somehow obliged it to us to remain perfect. They owe us nothing. They are business people and that is all. If they have a movie or a product to endorse or to sell us, it is up to us to buy it or not. This does not give us the right to peer into their personal lives, who they sleep with, how much weight they have gained, how many dates they have had or how their marriages are going. The transaction is completed when we buy their goods.

The worst thing of all is that when a celebrity buoy up his/her followers to donate to a charity, one could not help but wonder ‘what will the celebrity be doing with the colossal amount of money they earn ? Why do they buoy up their followers to donate when they can single handily donate the entire sum of certain charity requirement ?

Don’t we have much better things to think about than spending a huge amount of time to just know about someone whom we have not even met in our life ?

We are living in an epoch of mass communication and instant information gratification. We can use all the wonderful social networking tools to connect with real people, advance understanding between people to form an intellectual society that could potentially result us a peaceful world, and even share information that others can build on. The era we live in has lot of possibilities to connect with people all around the ecosphere thus eliminating the religion, caste, borders (with which they divide people in the name of patriotism) and share the wisdom that is required to form a healthy society. It is left to us to choose whether to just sit and gossip or use it helpfully.

Even I love the works of some directors, actors, musicians and skills of certain sports personalities. But there is a difference between appreciating the work of someone and being personally obsessed with them.

Let’s not overlook the fact that celebrities are just people too. People crammed up very nicely, but people are all the same. They do have ups and downs, fears and joys, challenges and loneliness in their lives as the rest of us. We can appreciate them when they entertain us, for that is their job, and then get on with our own lives. Let us stop gawking or gossiping on these so called celebrities that ‘We’ created and start spending our time on doing things that would make us happy. And forget not to spend some time on society in which we live, which many of us consider boring. . boring.

How weak I am ? Yet i try to prove others that I am conceitedly strong and capable of being tranquil to emotions in life. And i carry faking myself with lot of attitude and happiness just to prove that I am strong in front of others who humiliated me, hurt me or deserted me, throughout the day. But it all begins by the end of the day when i go to bed, when the lights are off and when i am alone with myself, there comes the real me to whisper into my heart how weak I am and how badly i need someone to listen to me.

Why am I faking myself for others ? It’s been like this from the beginning of my existence on this planet. I am being forced to be a hypocrite to be in this society.I don’t comprehend the intention of this education system yet I get educated.

I am sure that I am not comfortable and happy in the job that I am in yet I don’t miss a day at work.

I don’t know whether should I get married or I deserve getting married yet I get married.

I don’t know whether i have the patience to grow a kid yet I become a father/mother.

I dwell in self-comfortableness yet I want people to understand my situations.

I am in dilemma whether to stay with my loved one or end up our bond at times when I get hurt by his/her actions yet I complain about self-love.

I always want hearts to understand my innocence yet I have never attempted to understand their situations.

I constantly want hearts to listen to me yet I don’t have the patience to listen to them.

I see or hear about the loss of life and mass massacres around the world I feel a grief in my heart for the moment and I become normal the next moment yet I speak about the loss of love in the society.

I keep supporting the religion which was assigned to me even before my birth yet I speak of world peace.

Sometimes I feel happier for someone’s great loss just because they demeaned me once yet I speak of humanity.

I disrespect someone in anger yet I cannot take something against my self-respect.

I envy others growth at times yet I complain about selfishness.

I grieve for my lost dreams yet I don’t intend to pursue them.

I know the world I live in is so empty and meaningless yet I try to paint them with relationships and goals.

I know I am here to be in loneliness for eternity yet I try to socialize, convince myself that hearts will be around all the time.

I know nothing is permanent in this world yet I try to keep certain hearts to myself.

I know there are many with hidden emotions yet I wonder am I the only soul with lot of hidden emotions.

I have considered many times giving up on life yet here I stand, yet here I stand.

If you are often confused about whether the human existence is only because of science or is there a lord who is responsible for all these wonderful creations, and can he be narrowed down under one religion, spirituality v/s science, then this one is for you. Let us go through into this article with an open mind and with a motive to discuss within ourselves.

The world is full of people following different religions, beliefs and their own definitions for god based on the actions and situations they have endured in their life. First let us walk through a different perspective about spirituality and science.

SPIRITUALITY:

This can be cast into Religious non believer and Religious believer.

POLYTHEISM (Religious non believer):

The world’s major religions go by the names Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Every one of us knew that all these religions narrow down at some point or the other to convey us a similar message “be good and help others”. But only their style of belief and practices differ.

But the point is the creator, of such a beautiful and complex Universe (why nature is mathematical is a mystery and the fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle), of Water (which is odourless, colourless, tasteless, and yet no living entities can survive without it), of Rain (specially designed Evaporation system that takes the oceans water, leaving the salt, forming the clouds and pushed away by wind to disperse water throughout a region that sustains life on earth), of Brain (which simultaneously processes an amazing amount of functions. Our brain takes in, millions of colours and objects we see, the temperature around us, the dryness of our mouth, it holds and processes all our emotions, thoughts, memories, and simultaneously it keeps track of the on-going functions of our body like the movement of our muscles, eyelid movement, our breathing pattern, hunger. It is designed intellectually with abilities to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and to relate to people). His creations go on and on.

Can the creator of such unimaginable things be narrowed down under a religion ?

MONOTHEISM (Religious believer):

Strong adherent of a particular religion.

To the ease of understanding we will carry out the point of views in a debate manner. I would prefer to take on the debate with the polytheist stands for the spiritualty.

SCIENCE: (can be an Atheist)

For many years, the debate has essentially been a tussle between believers and non-believers of GOD. But when it comes to the side of science it has been quite easy to debate. Since science acknowledges reason, evidence, facts whereas spirituality acknowledges faith, philosophical and metaphysical explanations.

SPIRITUALITY:

The more I study SCIENCE the more I believe in GOD – ALBERT EINSTEIN

Yes it is true that spirituality acknowledges faith, but you cannot just brush away faith as such. Faith is everything. Faith is the thing which holds this world together. The faith a husband has on his wife, the faith a wife has on her husband, the faith a father has on his son, the faith a friend has on his friend. Faith is the entity which keeps sanity still alive on earth. Imagine the world without any faith, no one believing on no one. There is nothing worse than that. Faith is similar to gravity. You can feel it but not see it.

SCIENCE:

Gravity can be proved but not the existence of god.

SPIRITUALITY:

Yes, we do accept that. Like how gravity can only be felt and not seen same way god only can be felt. As of now we believe that the universe is 14 billion years old and the earth is 4.5 billion years old but we just discovered gravity somewhere between 1642-1727. It took us such a vast period of time to discover a thing (gravity) that has been through out with us and so essential for the stability of us. It may be that we have not evolved enough to prove the existence of God. Still there are many questions that science could not answer.

Science betrays science. Science says for every reaction to commence there must be an initial energy. We believe that the universe have evolved through big bang. Where did that initial energy come from to initiate a big bang ? Science cannot any further go on debating that GOD does not exist until they find an apt response for this.

SCIENCE:

May be that’s the only valid point spirituality could come up with. What has spirituality given us other than fear, blind beliefs, mass massacres in the name of religion, gullibility, one dimensional beliefs, and separatism ? My god is the true one, my god is better than yours, my religion will give you better salvation are we not sickened with these absurdness.

Spirituality mainly paves way just to manipulate the masses for materialistic gains, cult formation to take advantages of the masses, for political manipulations.

SPIRITUALITY:

Everything mentioned above is true, but all those are carried out in the name of spirituality and that absurdness is not spirituality. Absurdness will still exist in some other form even in absence of spirituality. What spirituality has given us ?

It has given hope for life during the dark phases of life. It has kept the rest of the world in peace and in control. Do you think these governments controls people ? Nah

Religion (spirituality) is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich – NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

SCIENCE:

But one cannot help wondering why do the gods punish so many of his own loved creations ?

SPIRITUALITY:

The father who loves his child, punishes his child when the child does something wrong does that mean that the father has lost love for his child ?

Same way for every wrong act of us to bring us to the righteous path the Gods punish us to teach us lessons of life. Well to put it in a scientific way ‘For every action there is equal and opposite reaction.’

To the end, there are still many questions yet to be answered by science. The world even in spite of its brutal inequality still continues to exist in control and peace (may be at least not war all over the world) it’s merely because of SPIRITUALITY.